Bush looks to GOP governors to fill top posts

Published Thursday, December 21, 2000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Bush looked to fellow Republican governors for his Cabinet-in-the-making Wednesday, with Christie Whitman of New Jersey poised to take over the nation's top environmental post and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin the front-runner for secretary of health and human services.

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, one of the first state executives to encourage a Bush presidential bid, visited the president-elect in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday and was the leading candidate for attorney general, though he could be offered another senior administration post, advisers said. His chief rival for attorney general was fellow GOP governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma.

On a day Bush announced his nominees to head the treasury, agriculture, commerce and housing agencies, the Texan worked behind the scenes to piece together the rest of his Cabinet.